We have been chosen to raise children of the King. A son and two daughters of the Most High.
What a privilege...and a responsibility.

Tuesday, November 10, 2015

Tin for Tikes: helping out Zambians in need

Our good friends in Zambia, Erik and Carrie, work closely with single mothers on their strawberry farm that they run. Yesterday, they put out a plea for help. To help these women have decent roofs over their heads and their childrens'.

Below is portions on their request:

"Boss, can I have this piece of plastic?" "Sir, are you going to use that cardboard box?"

I can tell rainy season is right around the corner. Every year, the ladies on the farm start patching up their roofs for rainy season. And every year, I give them what the farm can spare so they can stay dry. In the 4-5 months of rainy season, our area of Zambia will get OVER 3 FEET of rain. We need it to get through the other months of hot, dry weather. But, it presents some pretty big challenges for our workers.

In addition to the natural increase in malaria in rainy season, they deal with wet houses. Their roofs are a collection of tin sheets, asbestos tiles, cardboard, plastic, feed bags, or whatever might shed water. Often, the kids go to bed wet and cold.

This year, God has put it on our hearts to start building proper roofs on their houses before rainy season really gets going. We were talking about how they come every year trying to patch roofs that can't be patched any more. Carrie and I want to provide a more permanent solution.

I have a Chinese friend who provides roofing sheets and has agreed to help me by providing them at a discount. A few weeks ago, this young man came to church for the first time in his life and has since come back to hear more. I am excited about the partnership with him and the opportunity it provides to share the Gospel with him.

I measured the house of one of our farm ladies and I estimated that we could completely replace her roof with new tin sheets for about $500. Since most of the houses are roughly the same size, I think we can do them all for this amount.

Would you be willing to pray about helping to fund a roof for a widow and her family? Our goal is to start with 8 houses and see if we can do more if possible.

An interesting note: My Chinese friend, Ali. only has green roof sheets. How interesting it will be in the future to get on Google Earth and see all the green roofs dotting the compound. It should be an easy way to see where our workers live.**************************************